Presidential election: Name only after PM Narendra Modi’s Karnataka trip

NEW DELHI: As the final date to file nomination for the Presidential election inches closer, suspense over the name to be chosen by the ruling BJP is getting intense. The saffron party held a high-level meeting on Sunday at the residence of party national president JP Nadda to discuss the preparations even as it is yet to name the candidate. As many as 14 senior leaders of party, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, attended the meeting. 

Sources in the BJP hinted that the party could once again take its opponents by surprise and announce a 
consensus candidate of the NDA.The sources said the NDA candidate for the top post would be “far better, deserving and of wider acceptability across all castes and creeds than what the Opposition could bring in, and best suited for the PM’s mantra of ‘Saab ka Vikas Saab Ke Sath’”.

“We have always been giving a message through selection of candidature for the country’s highest Constitutional post to all sections of society. Wait for just a few days, everything will be clear about what we want for this country,” said a senior BJP leader wishing not to be named.

The sources also hinted that a formal consensus on the Presidential candidate has been made, and only an announcement in this regard is to be made. “With the return of PM Narendra Modi from poll-bound Karnataka on June 21 evening, the NDA may put the final seal of approval on the name and the formal announcement may be made between June 25 and 30 or even before,” a reliable source in BJP said.

Names of Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan, former Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu and four others are doing the rounds but the NDA may spring a surprise at the eleventh hour.

Mamata to skip meeting

TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee is likely to skip the second meeting of  nearly 18 opposition parties, for the consensus on a joint candidate for the Presidential poll.